this week's top stories a lot of fears of foreign intervention in violence torn libya where a group of british special forces soldiers have reportedly been seized by protesters. yet think we'd be in iraq if their major export their broccoli. experts say it's no concern for libya's people but interest in oil that's fueling some western reaction is to be on the rest of the u.s. economy already suffering from soaring prices at the pump. we are in an information war and we are losing out on. every clinton offer extra funds to spread the us media message it brought is a growing number of people turn to other countries news outlets to get a fresh view on world events. and russia's going to sure is consigned to history

major overhaul of the country's more important stuff for rebranding the question how about whether the much trumpeted force will go beyond paper work and cosmetics . but a look back at the week's main stories in the latest developments this is r.t. here in moscow first to libya weather reports that british soldiers have been seized by and see gadhafi forces as more western warships and planes move closer to the country the eight special air service offices said to be involved in the eastern part of the country escorting a diplomat who was supposed to negotiate with the rebels the protests and said they were outraged by the incident saying it as a foreign intervention into libya's internal affairs this comes as the country slips closer to civil war with fighting intensifying with reports of airstrikes and heavy weaponry. as more. on saturday the libyan leader moammar gadhafi launched

a fresh military offensive he's trying to retake some of the towns he's lost in the past eighteen days of fighting there were some seventy people killed those are the latest reports we're receiving and more than three hundred people injured with reports of it strikes and live ammunition and growing fears that libya is descending into civil war now many of the media in europe and in the united states has been supporting the rebels there have been editorials in major american and european newspapers actually calling on the ways to support the rebels and attack gadhafi the latest word we hearing is that the western media is trying to portray gadhafi forces as a losing and the opposition forces as winning but as you can see from these pictures it's not clear who has the upper hand and also analysts who are pushing forward in the opinion of the western media is so anti gadhafi because he has taken such a strong stand in the past against western interference in developing countries relations

word from the british government is that it is confirming that it is considering and is on standby to deploy its forces within twenty four hours and says that these forces will be used for humanitarian and evacuation purposes and not for any kind of military intervention the latest word we have from the u.s. is that its two warships have left crease and according to a statement they issued they are part of the military buildup around libya now they also know that france and the united kingdom are putting pressure on the united nations security council to make a decision on a no fly zone. policy reporting i want to discuss this i'm now joined live by a peace activist from hand to jens gardner also a member of physicians for the prevention of nuclear war thanks very much indeed for joining us here on r.t. now with the u.s. and british military moving closer to libya at the moment and even reports of u.k. special forces there on the ground what do you think will be the consequences of

foreign intervention if that doesn't be happened well we can see the. under torrent intervention just recently interventions we can study it in afghanistan we can studied it in iraq we can study it in hard in pakistan so we can ask the interventionist forces so what kind of humanitarian intervention are you planning to do as like in afghanistan or like what should therefore we leave good athlete to use force against his own people to stand by and let him continue to kill many libyans. but without questions you're already in the calling for action so it's kind of. difficult to answer the question because gadhafi is a consequence of also a consequence of western politics over the last forty years but.

then for saying that libya should be left to decide its own fate now even though there's been a lot of western influence on the part. well we are we are at the end of a long development here and for now i ask you now what to do now is a kind of too late now we can do much and as a peace activist and peace movement we strongly advise against military intervention we maybe could offer help for refugees or maybe offer help in the medical field but present we cannot and what we should refrain from any kind of military action such has as it has been taken in the past and we know the. consequences very well from a peace activists point of view how can you achieve peace in a country that many are saying is spiraling towards a long term civil war what's the peace what's there. but a peaceful answer is that you take a look at. the uni your liberal agenda that has been followed by many countries and

which has led in the end to a kind of civil war or war situation new liberal agenda means selling oil resources foreign investors and basically. cutting down to spending on any kind of social program that's all part of the logic of all element of globalization. and your liberal agenda. a lot of mixed messages coming out of the country the moment mainstream media struggle to give a really true and question of what's happening there in a country with a conflicting reports of a good half its demise and opposition progress now why do you think at the moment we are seeing these inconsistency. it's of course difficult to get precise information out of a kind of civil war so on it's probably not yet a fourth civil war and hopefully it can be settled in a more peaceful direction but right now it is for all parties except maybe the

military has served by several lives and already as we have heard troops on the ground all my chips are situation and have some kind of more detail you know what's going on on the ground what can we from the far away have little little to say to their. development right now on the ground that's taking place. finally do you believe that that he should fall and should be brought to account or what do you believe should happen next what should happen next. would be nice to see some western leaders who have been in close alliance with colonel gadhafi for the last ten years at least should be brought to trial yes that's what i think interesting so they're i'm saying brought to account of course you're saying as a result of western influence it's others who should be brought account because what you're saying is that others are responsible for this predicament now in libya

. to a large extent yes ok jens wagner thanks very much indeed for joining us live very interesting to hear what you have to say thank you very much thank you for. well as the arab world continues to sink into chaos the cost of oil is jumping to new heights experts claim that skyrocketing prices in the u.s. are threatening the country's economy as all of these long list of discovered the hulk an energy costs could see the obama administration come on the thought. tunisia. egypt. and bahrain. algeria. and libya protest in countries seeming to fuel one another unrest spreading like wildfire through the middle east and north africa only raging in all year for your rich countries that helped fuel the world's use of more than eighty four million barrels of crude

a day. uncertainty over production has sent prices soaring i mean the shock waves from the middle east turmoil are being felt worldwide now the mideast crisis is hitting home for outrage americans as oil prices have skyrocketed so too have the prices people pay for gasoline and now the price americans pay at the pump is threatening to derail the u.s. economic recovery a surge in oil. prices will be the end of the u.s. economy not just an end to the recovery there's no more bailouts a reality people oil expert michael c. rupert sees happening it or oil hits one hundred fifty dollars a barrel which he believes is inevitable this year others predicted going to two hundred twenty dollars it's so devastating because oil. fuels more than just cars. it fuels the entire global economy. though there's no doubt that if gas goes. five

dollars a gallon for americans as some predict there would be a high political price to pay for the obama administration you know gasoline prices go up and march and for a very long period. of your or. your political impact here there is no denying the u.s. has played a role in the events that have transpired in the middle east every time u.s. president barack obama went to the podium calling for this that there must be reform political social and economic reforms that meet the aspirations of the egyptian people and calling for egyptian president hosni mubarak's resignation he was calling for an end to the status quo which means a rise in uncertainty and rich region so did leaders weigh the toll it could take on their own economy some argue they don't have the power to kind of waning back up

trying to push their back against an avalanche and i don't think we're going to hear a lot of success that may not stop the u.s. from trying to take control some observers believe the u.s. may intervene militarily in libya or oil reserves are massive under false pretenses of helping protesting people has nothing to do with interest or people it has everything to do with the interest of the u.s. corporate oil corporations military corporate profits either way analysts say the price of fuel going up will simply fuel public rage and the government is largely helpless the american people are going for a very nasty ride and there's no way out of it now for i can tell you the government understands that it's not laura mr r.t. new york well still ahead for you this hour the money changed the course of history for the u.s.s.r. . so we could get one of the i don't agree with people to that historic you

failed. it didn't fail it was destructed. looks into the legacy of the soviet union's first and only president mikhail gorbachev he celebrated his eightieth birthday this week. of explore why the british are wary of an upcoming nationwide census of affairs their personal information might end up in the hands of u.s. authorities. hundreds of people flooding the streets of afghanistan's capital to protest of the deaths of nine children killed in a nato air raid last week protesters directed their anger at the u.s. occupation and afghan government and their instructions follow the country's president hamid karzai is condemnation of the killings continue despite the u.s. legal military officials apologies for the incident civilian casualties is a sensitive issue in afghanistan where over one hundred innocent afghans were killed in nato military operations in recent weeks and it's an activist sultanzoy explains why the alliance can't cope with it and agenda making matters only worse for afghans. it's very difficult to translate these apologies into into

really meaningful. things to victims' families these are casualties that have been happening for too many years and there are too many civilian casualties the people of afghanistan civilians are the victims of both the nato civilian casualties and lee terrorists who come with bombings and with. the targeting of civilian areas and the people of tired of both the hearts of the people of afghanistan or at the hands of two incompetent players one player is in international community and one player is the afghan government and both players are incompetent and ignorant about the true meaning of hearts and minds the intention of this war was to fight terror but the people of afghanistan have become the victim of terror the united states and coalition forces have to do much better and they have to also. paul be afghan side also at

a higher standard in this case what the afghan government and the international community are held responsible in the eyes and in the eyes of the people of up honest a. political activist how you'd sultanzoy in kabul talking earlier to t. . in or clinton says the u.s. is losing an information war to foreign media outlets including r.t. this week the secretary of state asked congress for more cash to step up america's efforts to get its message across what is going to can has this report. war declared the u.s. is now officially in an information battle with foreign media which provide alternative views on world news views which often running contrast to the coverage of events by the us mainstream media we are in an information war and we are losing that war i'll be very blunt in my assessment al jazeera is winning the chinese have opened up a global english language and multi language television network the russians have

opened up an english language network i've seen it in a few countries and it's quite instructive we are cutting back the b.b.c. is cutting back some five years ago western media outlets including d.t.c. and c.n.n. had a near monopoly in the coverage of world news things have changed since then more and more viewers across the world can into various foreign media to get a fresh take on events clearly the united states feels on the defensive in part because it can no longer monopolize not only the terms of you know the soroti in these countries but also the terms of the debate there's other information out there other points of view and those points of view are profoundly damaging to a country that believes that its point of view is the only point of view or should be the only point of view r.t. presence on you tube is one example almost three hundred million views as opposed

to c.n.n. that has around three million archy's constantly growing audience is already an indication to many that the days of media monopoly are over and people demand a multi-polar approach to news in the real commitment to the kind of freedom of the universe speech that we really need it for going to be in a democracy at home and in you know a community of nations overseas and now the administration is seeking more funding to step up u.s. propaganda efforts of broad during the cold war we did a great job in getting. his message out after the berlin wall fell we said ok fine enough of that you know we've done it we're done and unfortunately we are paying a big price for it last year the head of the agency that manages the us government or an international broadcasting asked for more money for his department we care allow ourselves to be out communicated by our enemies the list of enemies included russia china iran and venezuela walter isaacson the head of the sea which runs with

america among other media outlets later backtracked on this statement isaacson speech for more funding seemed even more unconvincing considering his agency has a budget of seven hundred fifty million dollars and it's way more than the budget of r t iran's press t.v. and venezuela's tell us we're combining probably money alone can't provide global media clout walter isaacson's speech last year sent quite a hostile message to foreign media exposing shortcomings in the us mainstream but separate clinton statement made it official the u.s. is fighting a global information war and it's also i'm going to start our reporting from washington our team. by the way can have your say on all the stories we're covering so i want to log on to our team got called our web site and share your view on the media war of eight.

the last leader of the soviet union mikhail gorbachev celebrated his eightieth birthday this week well known as a die hard advocate for peace his name has become symbolic with the end of the cold war presently madrid have not awarding him one of russia's highest honors seeking to create a more open and prosperous u.s.s.r. his initiatives range from introducing free speech to a massive overhaul of the state's economy is also famed for his leading role in scrapping the berlin wall and the unification of germany in nine hundred ninety s. efforts were awarded with the nobel peace prize. it's barely a year later soviet union collapsed some critics claim is unfinished reforms with disorder and turmoil that plagued russia in the 1980's while others resent him for destroying the powerhouse that was the u.s.s.r. and despite the criticism of former leaders still says russia was in desperate need of change if i don't agree with people to the perestroika failed it didn't fail it was disrupted do rails stocks still perestroika achieved

a lot of people realized they had finally got some freedom and opportunity to act inside russia we had democracy free elections and freedom of conscience private property freedom to travel abroad everything was good foreign affairs we put an end to the cold war we normalized our relationship with the u.s. we reunited germany we didn't send our tanks or troops there all our units in eastern europe stayed where they were it wasn't always easy and many things did not work out the way we planned but at the beginning when we made our first mistakes we didn't really explain to people what was going on and didn't get them involved in all those processes we were self-confident. and you can watch the full interview with mikhail gorbachev along with many others on our website that's at r.t. dot com online all the time. the u.k. is preparing for a nationwide census to take place later this month the government says it will help provide the services and resources people need and involvement of

a controversial u.s. defense corporation leaves many fearing their privacy could be violated what is your and it's as this report it said this time in the u.k. when every household in the country is asked to provide detailed information about their lives to the government they can keep track of what's going on and who will be in charge of this sensitive data. yes it's controversial u.s. arms manufacture a lot eat tomorrow. and campaigners ranging from religious groups to peace activists to data protection lobbyists are really against it on ethical grounds play on a number of oppressive regimes they also are on the us heavily in the wars they fought in iraq and afghanistan opposed by the majority of people in britain even if supported by the british government hill vows to boycott the census despite the risk of prosecution he says he won't be alone look he makes land mines and nuclear

weapons and contracts out interrogation. although it could be the u.k. arm that carries out the survey there's still a worry that the information could fall under the auspices of the us patriot act which compels personal data held by any company on systems in the us to be made available to government intelligence the office for national statistics which in gauge lockheed martin maintains it's taken measures to make sure u.s. authorities can't access the data. all dance of processing will be carried out in the u.k. dance will leave will be held any point outside the u.k. lockheed martin staff will have access to any personal census data all dance is the property of the and only u.k.e. you owned companies will have any access to personal census data but it's that last point that's raise red flags for data protection lobbyists who say that all the

private information collected during the census will be available to practically any organization that requests it any use under any statute. only use by the security intelligence services for national security purposes any use for the pursuit of croy any use in pursuit of an e u community obligation so any e.u. rules that information can be passed over so it's essentially any government use whatsoever of confidentiality has been abolished and u.k. government agencies don't exactly have a great track record when it comes to safeguarding information three years ago a file containing secrets terror related documents was left on a train more recently the national health service lost the medical records of tens of thousands of people thanks to look he'd martin's involvement in the census it would be hard for the u.s. authorities to lay their hands on that information if they wanted data from the

said says it is used by the government to award grants to local councils and recognize new groups in society a sense is run by lockheed martin raises grave concerns in britain about ethics and international security if a lot of people boycott that says it will make it ineffective and a waste of money with a two hundred forty million dollar contract amounts will go into looking at martins pocket anyway your emmett's r.t. . now time for a look at some other major headlines from around the world of several people being injured after clashes. between police and students in the capital of bangladesh offices armed with tear gas and buttons charge the crowds off of the begin to smash vehicles the unrest began of the death of a twenty five year old student in a road accident. japan's foreign minister has resigned after opposition uproar over a political donation he got from a foreign national admitted accepting about six hundred dollars from a south korean citizen resident in japan and some

a small japanese law burns politicians from accepting money from outsiders to protect the country from foreign influence his resignation strikes a blow to the current prime minister. who sought mr my heart out as his successor. russian law enforcement was given a much needed make over this week with public trust in the four sinking to an all time low it's hoped new reforms and a name change will return it to credibility as a ticket reserve reports there's a lot riding on the overhaul but the on the paperwork and cosmetics a change of title and hopefully actually change in attitudes these lines force me after serious are abandoning their soviet era name of meat there in favor of the world be recognizable police for the government it's a first step down a long road towards modernizing the service and arresting a sharp decline in public perception. to be constructive the boys in blue has been

dealt a huge blow in recent years it's led to any society amongst officers and outrage from knows they're supposed to protect incidents like the supermarket rampage by officer you've seen cough who opened fire on innocent shoppers killing two and wounding seven it was the final straw that fueled calls for reform but can changing their name bring about a change in behavior while some insist that any change is long overdue for others it's purely cosmetic of the earth fact that there were so many accidents with police officers we're hearing illegally in russia during the previous years. this very fact is not going to be changed by the change of the law because these illegal practices were concrete of the previous lives as well as called or to the current work the big question is whether there is the political will to really . take it under control the police themselves though are preparing for the changes

to come up with a huge part of our retains will depend on the people of this country how they evaluate our performance. this colonel is already grasping the essence of modernizing the force her students seem eager to absorb as much information before their upcoming exams so it really becomes what everyone will be tested physical ability knowledge of new laws civic duties all those are included in news events there will be no indulgences for anyone either pass the test or leave the force other changes are a mixed blessing there'll be a twenty percent cut in personnel but the remaining officers will get a pay rise there will be better screening of new recruits with every detail of an applicant's background put under the microscope but until all that takes effect officers have to knuckle down to the job in hand restoring honor to russia's police is a tough task and the public are no pushover judges but the force is determined to turn

that around reexamining staff redesigning uniforms all those changes or put a lot of time to be fully implemented but one of the first things to change the signs like these which soon will feature internationally recognizable police site cashing in as our moscow will be back up with a recap all the stories that shape this week on the latest developments in just a few minutes from now stay with us live here in moscow.

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